I am going to go blow up Charter One Bank

[The Kizzy]

So I moved away from Ohio in February. I brought my account to a zero balance, and I was told that after 7 days of inactivity, they would close my account. On the 7th day, a charge of $43.56 came thru from my health club. I had already sent them the necessary paperwork to cancel my contract because I was moving more than 20 miles away from a health club.

I called the bank, explained what happened, they sent out a sheet of paper I had to have signed and notorized stating that they did not have permission to take this money from my account. This was in March.

I get a phone call from my bank stating that Check Systems came back with a hit 3 months after I opened my account here. THey would have to close my checking account if I didn't get it taken care of. So I called the number, and they said they were Citizens bank in Rhode Island. I informed him I have never had a Citizens account, and I haven't lived in Rhode Island since I was 4.

Then he tells me they took over Charter One bank, and I have an outstanding balance of $364.11. I told him that I would pay a bit every month to get it caught up, and to send me the information. I got he statement in my mail today, and the majority of the fees were AFTER I talked to customer service the first time and had the account closed. THe guy never closed it, and he no longer works for the bank. SO now I am stuck paying almost $400 in fees for someone not doing their job correctly. Oh i am pissed.

[Jay]

Why didn't you just close your account right then and there? Your downfall is that you assume every does what they are supposed to do. Regardless of who's fault it is and who shoulda done what, the end result is you investing time into something that should have already been finished and you could've prevented that by not assuming things always happen in a timely manner.

[The Kizzy]

The bank only closes your account after 7 days at a zero balance. That is their policy. I brought my account to the 0 balance.

[Darcler]

I have the opposite problem.
I had a savings account with a bank, I turned 18 and took all the money out because I was moving and there wasnt another bank close to me. This was 5ish years ago and the bank has since been bought out. But I still get notices from them saying I have money with them. Only 2.97 but still. It's too small an amount for me to drive over to get, but I'm tired of the notices =/

[Jay]

The bank only closes your account after 7 days at a zero balance. That is their policy. I brought my account to the 0 balance.

Or you could have said "Close my account now". You know you had the gym taking reoccuring payments from your account. It's not unheard of that they don't file your paperwork on time hence your current situation. All I'm sayng is, this could have been prevented and it's not stupid to be careful when it comes to money. That extra 10 minutes of effort could have saved you days worth of time. You can go ahead and tell me I'm talking out of my ass and that I don't know wtf I'm talking about but I can tell you this shit never happens to me *knock on wood*.

[Minrott]

Westconsin Credit Union wouldn't let me close my checking account without speaking to a manager. I'd stopped in on my last trip out of town, my last load of stuff and I wasn't coming back, and it was a 30 minute wait to see a manager. I said fuck it and left. They've been sending me account statements for 4 years now for a $5 balance. That's my way of slowly screwing them. 39 cents a pop plus paper and toner every month.

[Darcler]

At another bank...actually Wachovia now, used to be Southern Bank, but I quit my job and let my account run out (I thought I had it down to the dollar, but my math skeelz are no good) and it's gone to some lawyers office now. I owe 170 or something (due to monthly overdue balance) but can settle for 80something. I think my dad is going to pay it because he's tired of getting my statement.

[Hatak]

ChexSystem sucks. I have a similar problem as you but instead of threatening to close a current account, no one will let me open one thanks to charges allowed on that account after I had closed it. They were kind enough to re-open the account "for my convenience" and gladly charged me overdraft fees. Now I have to either pay them back the money to get a new bank account elsewhere, or wait the 5 years it takes for ChexSystem to drop the record from their system.

I sure wish I had my Pre-Paid Legal membership back when that happened.

[Martrae]

Charter One is good about doing that. They bill themselves as the friendly bank but their policies suck.

[Minrott]

Fuck all those national banks. Except for the one instance above, I've had so much better luck dealing with credit unions.